Sabbath Keeping

"He will swallow up death in victory;

and the Lord God will wipe away tears 

from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people

shall He take away from off all the earth:

for the Lord hath spoken it."

~ Isaiah 26:6-9 ~

"Our dead are never dead to us

until we have forgotten them."

~ George Eliot ~

"Even such is Time, which takes in trust

Our youth, our joys, and all we have,

And pays us but with age and dust;

Who in the dark and silent grave,

When we have wandered all our ways,

Shuts up the story of our days:

And from which earth, and grave, and dust,

The Lord shall raise me up I trust."

~ Sir Walter Raleigh ~ 

"I would rather die a meaningful death

than live a meaningless life."

~ Corazon Aquino ~

"Let nothing disturb thee;

Let nothing dismay thee;

All things pass:

God never changes.

Patience attains

All that it strives for.

He who has God 

Finds he lacks nothing:

God alone suffices."

~ St. Teresa's book-mark ~

"The day which we fear as our last

is but the birthday of eternity."

~ Seneca ~

"'Tis a fearful thing

to love what death can touch.

A fearful thing

to love, to hope, to dream, to be -

to be, 

And oh, to lose.

A thing for fools, this,

And a holy thing,

a holy thing

to love. 

For your life has lived in me,

your laugh once lifted me,

your word was gift to me.

To remember this brings painful joy.

'Tis a human thing, love,

a holy thing, to love

what death has touched."

~ Yehuda HaLevi (1075-1141)

"The life of the dead

is placed in the memory of the living."

~ Cicero ~

"God be in my head, and in my understanding;

God be in mine eyes, and in my looking;

God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;

God be in my heart, and in my thinking;

God be at mine end, and at my departing."

~ Sarum Primer, 1514 ~ 

"Absent in the body

Present with the Lord."

~ 2 Corinthians 5:8 ~

This week, if you've a name for the prayer list, please let me know.

Prayer Keeping ~ Jim ~ Mike ~ Stephanie ~ Mary ~ Donna ~ Sandra ~ 

On My Refrigerator...

Under the little boy it reads, "Clothes make the man but the HAT makes the cowboy!" The big boy is Dave; we were at a birthday party and there was a poster the children could put their face in and have photos taken. It amused Dave to do the same; now it amuses me. Daily.

"I measure every Grief I meet

With narrow, probing eyes -

I wonder if it weighs like Mine -

Or has an Easier size.

I wonder if they bore it long -

Or did it just begin -

I could not tell the date of mine -

It feels so old a pain -

I wonder if it hurts to live -

And if they have to try -

And whether - could they choose between -

It would not be - to die-

I note that some - gone patient long -

At length, renew their smile -

An imitation of a light

That has so little oil -

~ Emily Dickinson ~

I can't really say it gets easier but I can say it isn't as painful as it was four years ago today. The other thing I know for sure is people get tired of listening which is one reason I keep writing.

Blessings ~ Dave ~

Actually, Pumpkin Flavored Everything is Here!

Not sure where I found this, nor the owner, but isn't it fabulous? Makes me smile each time I see it so if you know the owner, please let me know so I can give credit. Nor do I know the actor...probably someone extremely famous but what do I know, eh? The answer is...not much. -smile-

These mornings I drink pumpkin flavored coffee. Unfortunately flavored cream either has too much sugar or too many chemicals so I stick with flavored coffee with half and half as it's easier on my stomach. The pumpkin flavored almonds didn't make the cut; I found an opened container of them purchased last year and tossed them to the birds whoever would eat them.

"I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like best of all autumn, because its tone is mellower, its colours are richer, and it is tinged with a little sorrow. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor the power of summer, but of an approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and its content." ~ Lin Yutang ~

Like Lin Yutang, I like spring but it is a trifle fresh. I like summer but it is a bit bold and I even like winter but the gateway to winter, November, is not to my liking at all. It's not exactly cold enough for full blown heat but too chilly not to wear wool while the rain lashes at my face, tearing my hair from my hat and causing fierce mutterings. It's like February, except longer.

But like Forrest (which also happens to be Beloved's name) I like today best. "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

November came in yesterday...cold, windy, raining...just like November so no surprise there. Today is much the same and tomorrow is voting...it's pure ugly in Tazewell County. People calling other people names, spreading lies, rumors and innuendos; everyone wanting their man or woman to win and willing to do absolutely anything to ensure the outcome. The thing that bothers me most is, so many people have no clue; they don't trouble themselves to learn anything about the issues because they vote party. "That's the way my family has always voted and that's the way I vote."

How vastly ignorant! They won't cross party lines even if the other person is better qualified, better educated, better spoken. No wonder this country and county are in trouble!

What's it like where you live?

"This is the treacherous month when autumn days
With summer's voice come bearing summer's gifts.
Beguiled, the pale down-trodden aster lifts
Her head and blooms again. The soft, warm haze
Makes moist once more the sere and dusty ways,
And, creeping through where dead leaves lie in drifts,
The violet returns. Snow noiseless sifts
Ere night, an icy shroud, which morning's rays
Wildly shine upon and slowly melt,
Too late to bid the violet live again.
The treachery, at last, too late, is plain;
Bare are the places where the sweet flowers dwelt.
 What joy sufficient hath November felt?
What profit from the violet's day of pain?"
~ Helen Hunt Jackson, Autumn Sonnet ~

There's already been snow over the mountain; a skiff certainly, but still snow. The farm, house and animals are almost all ready for winter. Propane tank topped off, oil tank topped off, chimney swept and wood stacked in barn. The boys are bringing another load to stack on the back porch and I need to lay a fire to be lit in the wood stove.

I feel absolutely industrious...smile.

Blessings ~ humor ~ autumn ~ November ~ poetry ~ voting ~ pumpkin flavor ~ 

Sabbath Keeping

"Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, 

or in things too high for me. 

Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: 

my soul is even as a weaned child.

Let {me} hope in the Lord 

from henceforth and for ever."

~ Psalm 131 ~

"Dear God, 

I pray your Holy Spirit will teach me

Your wisdom will guide me

and your love will move me."

"It was the Lord who put into my mind that fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me. There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit because He comforted me with rays of marvelous inspiration from the Holy Scriptures."
~ Christopher Columbus ~

"The Holy Spirit is not a blessing from God.

He is God."

~ Colin Urquhart ~ 

"There is no better evangelist in the world than the
Holy Spirit." ~ D. L. Moody ~

"A church in the land without the Spirit is rather a curse than a blessing. If you have not the Spirit of God, Christian worker, remember that you stand in somebody else's way; you are a fruitless tree standing where a fruitful tree might grow." ~ Charles Spurgeon ~

"God knows what each one of us is dealing with. He knows our pressures. He knows our conflicts. And He has made a provision for each and every one of them. That provision is Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit, indwelling us and empowering us to respond rightly."
~ Kay Arthur ~

"To ignore, repress, or dismiss our feelings is to fail to listen to the stirrings of the Spirit within our emotional life. Jesus listened. In John's Gospel we are told that Jesus was moved with the deepest emotions (11:33)... The gospel portrait of the beloved Child of Abba is that of a man exquisitely attuned to His emotions and uninhibited in expressing them. The Son of Man did not scorn or reject feelings as fickle and unreliable. They were sensitive antennae to which He listened carefully and through which He perceived the will of His Father for congruent speech and action." ~ Brennan Manning ~

"If we rely on the Holy Spirit, we shall find that our prayers become more and more inarticulate; and when they are inarticulate, reverence grows deeper and deeper." ~ Oswald Chambers ~

"It's not the Holy Spirit and power;

It's the Holy Spirit as power."

"I used to tell young preachers, in order to preach you've got to have the power of God on your life. Now I tell them, in order to tie your shoes, you've got to have the power of God on your life." ~ Paul Washer ~

"The Christian who neglects the Holy Spirit 

is like a lamp that isn't plugged in."  

"Put very simply, Satan's power in the world is everywhere. Yet wherever men and women walk in the Spirit, sensitive to the anointing they have from God, that power of his just evaporates. There is a line drawn by God, a boundary where by virtue of his own very presence Satan's writ does not run. Let God but occupy all the space himself, and what room is left for the evil one?" ~ Watchman Nee ~

"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus 

from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ 

from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies 

by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."

~ Romans 8:11 ~ 

If you've a name for this week's prayer list, please let me know.

Prayer Keeping ~ Mike ~  Stephanie ~ Jim ~ Sandra ~ 

Sabbath Keeping

"Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph: and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah. 

And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, "Our father died in the wilderness and he was not in the company of Korah; bu died in his own sin, and had no sons. Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father. 

And Moses brought their cause before the LORD. 

And the LORD spake unto  Moses saying, "The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel saying, "If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter."

~ Numbers 27:1-8 ~

"Ask and be patient to wait for an answer."

~ Lailah Gifty Akita ~

"Sometimes you ask God for something and you don't know what you're asking." ~ Mahalia Jackson ~

"I used to ask God to help me.

then I asked if I might help him.

I ended up asking God to do His work

through me."

~ Hudson Taylor ~ 

"Man finds it hard to get what he wants because he does not want the best. God finds it hard to give because He
would give the best and man will not take it."
~ George McDonald ~

"Praying, we usually ask too  much. I know I do. Sometimes we even demand. I think I am learning to ask enough for the moment--not for the whole year, utterly veiled in mystery; not even for the week, the month ahead; but just for today.
Jesus said it all when He told us to pray: 'Give us this day our daily bread.'
That bread is not only material, it is spiritual; in asking for it, we ask for a sufficiency of strength, courage, hope and light. Enough courage for the step ahead--not for the further miles. Enough strength for the immediate task or ordeal. Enough material gain to enable us to meet our daily obligations. Enough light to see the path--right before our feet." ~ Faith Baldwin ~

"What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer." ~ Joseph Scriven ~

"And even when you ask, you don't get it 

because your motives are all wrong--

you want only what will give you pleasure."

~ James 4:3 ~

(The first Bible verse has always amazed and given me courage. Five sisters, changed the course of history when they approached Moses and asked, "Why...? Prior to their question, only males inherited and, to be sure, heads turned, mouths dropped open, vile mutterings were heard and all because those courageous five sisters asked, "Why...".  May we all be so courageous when we approach God and ask with pure motives.)

If you have a name for this week's prayer list, let me know.

Prayer Keeping ~ Mary ~ Jim ~ Mike ~ Stephanie ~ Norman ~ Deanna ~ Sandra ~

Big Stone Gap and other fascinating stuff...to me anyway

~ Lady Gray, recently born in the basement ~

Gina made another video on the farm and asks, nicely, that you click here and view for a minimum of 30 seconds. Perhaps you did that a few months ago but; "please, would you do it again, the sooner the better for Sandra" so asks Gina? Please don't forget; I'll wait while you go now...

~ wending their way home ~

Earlier this week, Nancy and I saw Big Stone Gap, the movie, directed by Adriana Trigiani who was born and raised in BSG. She wrote the book, the first of a trilogy with Big Cherry Holler and Milk Glass Moon following and many other very well received books. I've read some not so nice movie reviews and the first thought that popped into my head was, "Gee, I'd sure hate to be married to you or have you for a boss." Why some people think they have to prove they're a mean, small jackass is beyond me because I think it's fairly evident to those around them.

~ breakfast in bed for Lightly, American Curly horse ~

I thought the movie absolutely charming and loved the stellar cast. It was all warm, funny, sweet (now there's a word you hardly ever hear/see me using) and yes, I did happy cry at the end. In a world gone mad with danger, ugliness, meanness, smallness, negativity, etc. this movie is a keeper. Matter of fact, think I'll go see it again and then buy it (when it goes on sale; haven't totally lost my mind, donchaknow....smile). Big Stone Gap is a feel good movie, filmed down the road in Big Stone Gap, VA and, up til now, probably known best for being the site of the longest running outdoor play production in VA...The Trail of the Lonesome Pine.  No, I've never seen it but, from my childhood, remember a man's deep voice introducing something ???, "And now, from the Trail of the Lonesome Pine"... voice then trailing off. I've asked around and people, generally, think I'm crazy because they don't remember such. But I really do!

~ fire starters gathered from front yard ~

Then again, it might be the intro to the 1936 movie Henry Fonda and Fred MacMurray made which was taken from the book written by John Fox, Jr. My memory is such a poor servant but I'm remembering from the late 1950's or thereabouts...isn't that something like 2 centuries ago...or not.

~ Lady Gray's mother, Girly ~

Or, come to think of it, BSG could be just as famous as being the site sight (little play on words here) where Elizabeth Taylor choked on a chicken bone while stumping for her then husband of six years, VA Senator John Warner. Read here a sweet (there's that word again!) story of Elizabeth Taylor meeting Mr. Trigiani (father of Adriani) in Big Stone Gap in 1978.

~ wending my way home ~

Anyhoo...we have a fair number of wonderful Appalachian writers from, as in born in, southwest Virginia (Sharyn McCrumb, Lee Smith come to mind) but Trigiani is my favorite.

She captures a sense of small community life and, for me, what it was like growing up summers in a coal mining community.

Oh. You didn't know? I'm a coal miner's daughter with a heritage dipping back generations of coal miners, farmers, preachers, teachers and, just to keep things spicy, Great Aunt Mamie Hamrick, the first female lawyer to practice in front of (is that how you say it??) the VA Supreme Court in the early 1900's. We've had other notable folks in our family, then they got to me...smile. I'm the black sheep. The six year old girl who knew she wanted to live on a farm, have animals and live peaceable with God and His creation. I wasn't born on this farm but made it here as fast as I could. The best one-third of my life has been lived lived! here.

This summer, I've been doing a lot of canning...peach vanilla, strawberry, kiwi, blueberry jams,

apple butter, tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans and bought a jar of apple pie makings as well as vegetable soup. I figure with all this and the 25 pound sack of flour mentioned here, I'll eat well this winter. You know what they say...a good woman provide warmth in the winter and shade in the summer. What I always said is, "I'm built for comfort, not for speed."

Home. Is there another word that stirs up all that is good, kind, loving, warm, safe and tender? Love comes close but when death snatches love, leaving only the memories and pictures, home is what can both calm, and stir, one's heart. It does mine; does it yours?

Blessings ~ Gina ~ Nancy ~ good movies ~ Adriana Trigiani ~ a full pantry ~ home ~

Sabbath Keeping

"Cast thy burden upon the Lord,

and he shall sustain thee: he

shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."

~ Psalm 55:22 ~ 

"God cares about every area of our lives,

and God wants us to ask for help."

~ Ben Carson ~

"When trouble comes, 

focus on God's ability to care for you."

~ Charles Stanley ~ 

Might I not be able to love God in the ways that Katie (Don Holt's cat) was loving me? A desire to be close, to be in touch, to receive strokes and and caresses from the External, to feel warm and safe and comfortable with God? Was this not exactly what I longed for -- the experience of stretching out, so to speak, on the breast of God, purring in contentment, safely supported by the everlasting arms?"
~ Don Holt as quoted by Allen Anderson ~

"A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her." ~ Max Lucado ~

"We are to make a plan for the day, pray over that plan, and then proceed with that plan. When we are willing to regard the unexpected as God's intervention, we can flex with the new plan, recognizing it as God's plan."
~ Elizabeth George ~

"Prayer reminds me it's not just about me. It's about all the people with whom I share this planet, and all of whom God has created, and all of whom he cares just as much about as he cares about me." ~ Mike Huckabee ~

"God loves each of us 

as if there were only one of us."

~ Augustine of Hippo ~

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle.

I just wish He didn't trust me so much."

~ Mother Teresa ~

"Been taken for granted? 

Imagine how God feels."

~ unknown ~

"Remember, you are special because I made you. And I don't make mistakes." ~ Max Lucado ~

"No pillow so soft as God's promise." ~ unknown ~

"You Are Mine"

by David Haas

listen here

"Casting all your care upon Him

for He careth for you."

~ I Peter 5:7 ~ 

Prayer Keeping ~ Mike and Marnie ~ Roy, Faith and family ~ Jim ~ Dewena ~ Mary and family ~ Sandra ~

I'm So Far Behind, I Don't Know If It's Dusk or Dawn

There's been a little of this...Yellow Tail Sparkling Wine...on the front porch where I sit and sip. There's not nearly enough of this, compared to the work, but I'm getting a better handle on the proportions. I think.

Last month, I took sisters Faith and Becky to my Cherry Grove condo (Thistle Cove Cottage); neither had ever been to the beach nor seen the ocean except in photos. sigh, generational differences. Yes, as it happens that is a mobile phone in her hand...I often forget to turn mine on and she's glued to hers. Just goes to show you...she has a lot more going on outside her life than do I. I don't know that many people I want to be connected to.

Tis the season for fall festivals; this one has been happening, so says memory, for 28 years. I went because I wanted to buy 'lasses but no one had any; they had tons of apple butter which I did not buy because I've been making apple butter. Quarts and Quarts and Quarts and pints and pints and pints and half pints of the stuff. I'll just buy a 25 pound sack of flour and this winter will eat biscuits slathered with home churned butter AND apple butter. Overkill can, sometimes, be a Very Good Thing! (After leaving the Garden, I found 'lasses raised and made by Jaimie; the son of my former mail carrier. He's a delightful young man and he and his father farm...pretty much everything!)

Burkes Garden has signs for residents...you just drive around until you see who/where you want then head in that direction. Essentially, Burkes Garden is a circle; some say a thumbprint; a lot of photos here. I won't show the most famous photo because I don't have permission and consider property theft to be a very bad thing. (Local government has no such pesky conscious and regularly use other people's photos without giving compensation or credit to the owner. I've found my photos several places around the i-net from when the county used them without permission or credit.)

For a donation, the Amish would give folks a wagon ride. No, the gent you see isn't Amish, he's a passenger (just in case you were wondering).

How many remember doing this...front little girl standing on the pedals while sister sits on seat and pushes her feet on the road to propel them along. Both had pretty smiles and were having loads of fun.

I got lost decided to take a road I'd never taken that started out asphalt, quickly turned to gravel then to one lane. Fortunately, it had a (very) few pull-offs so when I met a car we'd both pass slowly. About a mile before the top of the mountain, I met a truck, no pull-offs, and decided he could hit the ditch to pass me while I hunkered in the almost middle of the road. I had my window down so I could apologize, "I'm sorry...it's been raining so much and I'm afraid of soft shoulders. I didn't want to get close to the falling off edge. Can you get around me?" He smile big and said, "Don't you worry none; we're just fine. Do you know where you're headed?" I said, "I think this might be the road to Ceres; is it?" He nodded and said, "You're about a mile from the top of the mountain; at the top, you might want to turn around and come back this side. The other side is a mite slick today."

That's exactly what I did after some folks took a picture of me standing at the Appalachian Trail.

One more reason it takes me so long to do everything...Kit and the rest of the animals all have to be a constant, immediate part of my life. And I wouldn't have it any other way!

Canada Geese came back August 1 and, every morning, just like clockwork they come to the cut corn field across the road. It's impossible to get them all in one photos; there must be hundreds!

Hunting season: hunters watching me watch them. I was impressed because they're wearing blaze orange; a lot of them don't. I left a note on their windshield letting them know; they probably think I'm crazy.

Home of the free,

Land of the brave.

Things to stay away from:

And, finally, I think this might be my new header photo.
Do you approve?

Blessings ~ Canada Geese ~ Appalachian Trail ~ my life ~ my farm ~ my animals ~ sparkling wine ~ Burkes Garden ~ the Cove ~

Sabbath Keeping

~ Ireland 2013 ~

"The unfailing love of the Lord never ends. By His mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day."

~ Lamentations 3:22-23 ~

"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely.
Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly.
Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely. ... He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken." ~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf ~

"Consider what you know to His immutability. Though you have changed a thousand times, He has not changed once."
~ Charles Spurgeon ~

"God will not permit any troubles to come upon us, unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty." ~ Peter Marshall ~

"You are not what others think you are.

You are what God knows you are."

~ Shannon L. Alder ~

"God loves us too much to indulge our every whim."
~ Max Lucado ~

"We should be astonished at the goodness of God, stunned that He should bother to call us by name, our  mouths wide open at His love, bewildered that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground." ~ Brennan Manning ~

"Too much of anything is dangerous unless it's God's Love."
~ Reign ~

"The sin underneath all our sins is to trust the lie of the serpent that we cannot trust the love and grace of Christ and must take matters into our own hands." ~ Martin Luther ~

"God proved His love on the cross.  When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, "I love you."
~ Billy Graham ~

"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good, because He loves us." ~ C. S. Lewis ~

"...but God shows His love for us 

in that while we were still sinners, 

Christ dies for us."

~ Romans 5:8 ~ 

Prayer Keeping ~ Jim ~ Kathy ~ John ~ Sandra ~ 

Sabbath Keeping

"Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set on them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God."

~ Ecclesiastes 8:11-13 ~ 

"For children are innocent and love justice, 

while most of us are wicked 

and naturally prefer mercy."

~ G. K. Chesterton ~

"Our repentance is not so much regret for the evil we have done, as fear of its consequences." ~ Rochefoucauld ~

"The honourable are moved, by the nobility of another's sacrifice. The wicked are moved only by causing it."
~ Justin K.McFarlane Beau ~

"The judge should not be young, he should have learned to know evil, not from his own soul, but from late and long observation of the nature of evil in others." ~ Plato ~

"He who does not punish evil,

commands it to be done."

~ Leonardo da Vinci ~ 

"If the Divine call does not make us better, it will make us very much worse. Of all bad men religious bad men are the worst. Of all created beings the wickedest is one who originally stood in the immediate presence of God."
~ C. S. Lewis ~

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it conscientiously." ~ Pascal ~

"What a lamentable thing it is that men should blame the gods and regard us as the source of their troubles, when it is their own wickedness that brings them sufferings worse than any which destiny allots them." ~ Homer ~

"The spirit of wickedness in high places is now so powerful and many-headed in its incarnations that there seems nothing more to do than personally refuse to worship any of the hydras' heads." ~ J. R. R. Tolkien ~

"The love of money is the root of all evil..." 

~ I Timothy 6:10 ~

If you'd like a name added to the prayer list, please let me know.

Prayer Keeping ~ Mike ~ Jim ~ Kathy ~ John ~ Sandra ~

Open and Shut Case

Blessings ~ God has a plan ~

Seas the Day

Recently I had an opportunity to leave Thistle Cove Farm and drive to Thistle Cove Cottage.

The view from my cottage windows is almost as nice as the view from my farm house windows.

It's not a "beachy" place; rather, it's a place that envelopes, is cozy and peaceful and is the only place in my life where I don't have to take care of animals. This isn't meant as a complaint, merely a comment, but since Dave's death, my life has been work, work, work and more work. It's taken a lot out of me - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually - to keep the farm going and I'm beginning to see the ragged edges of overwhelming exhaustion. Close friends tell me that same exhaustion made its appearance a long while ago but, in my stubbornness (or tenacity as I prefer to think) I've pushed it back in order to keep moving forward. I enjoy work but am beginning to think there's more to life...lol! 

While staying on Captiva Island, Anne Morrow Lindburgh wrote

"Don't wish me happiness

I don't expect to be happy all the time...

It's gotten beyond that somehow. 

Wish me courage and strength and a sense of humor.

I will need them all."

If you've wished me these things, thank you and if you've prayed for me, thank you and God bless you for I've needed the prayer more than anything.

A few quotes from her book stand out and here I include two more..."The most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere. That is why so much of social life is exhausting; one is wearing a mask. I have shed my mask."  

This is one reason I now live behind a locked gate and, probably, always will (safety being another reason). As I age (thank God for the gift of birthdays!) it takes harsh amounts of energy to be in the company of insincere people and it's simply easier to avoid them. I lack the patience (if ever I had it) to suss the truth from the lies and would far rather use my energy toward things that bring happiness, joy, niceness, kindness to my life. Years past, I would come home and relate an incident to Dave and asked, "What was that all about?!" and he'd respond, "You just don't get it, Jeremiah (his pet name for me), and you never will. Even so, you may thank God for it." I didn't/don't understand the masks and so have taken the easy road by removing myself from the company of most, especially those with masks.

and another quote...

"I find there is a quality to being alone that is incredibly precious. Life rushes back into the void, richer, more vivid, fuller than before."  Being without Dave isn't as good as being with Dave but I've learned...am learning...again, to cherish the richness, the fullness, the sheer life God has given me and am busy fulfilling the expectation for me to continue to live. (Yes, I am a slow learner but, eventually, I do learn -smile-.)

She writes, "Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves."

Ahhhh...solitude! Dave and I always gave each other the gift of solitude so when we came together it was all the sweeter. We never felt the need to be in each other's pockets when we could simply be together by sharing the same house, car, farm, walk, plane, etc. We also never felt the need to chatter all the time; we could sit in companionable silence and enjoy each other's company. On the other hand, we could talk for hours and never run out of things to say.

Gift From The Sea was an instant classic and remains so today. If you've never read it, please do yourself a favor, find the quiet time and give this gift to yourself.

One of the Cottage wall adornments is the above...it's to remind people who stay at Thistle Cove Cottage of the important things of life. So many of us get bogged down in making a living that we forget to make a life. Making a life is making memories by doing the important things...reading to the children in our lives, greeting the sun rise with a cuppa in hand, taking a prayerful walk, telling...and showing...those we love we love them, preparing and sharing a meal. 

I maintain one of the most important things in your life should be yourself, your family and your home, followed by friends. In my life, God and morning devotions head up that list and He and the devotions keep me grounded. I shudder to think how angst ridden, nervous, anxious and just plain cranky I'd be without Him! Home is my first sanctuary and is where I'm nourished, cosseted and comforted from the friction and burden of daily living. 

I've tried to spill over these same feelings of sanctuary, coziness, comfort and caring at Thistle Cove Cottage. Last year, one young woman visited with her husband and toddler son and left the above note with drawings:

Advice from the Ocean

1. Be shore of yourself

2. Come out of your shell

3. Take time to Coast

4.  Avoid Pier pressure

5. Sea life's beauty

6. Don't get Tide down

7. Make Waves

Don't you like it? I only wish I were half as clever!

I don't get to my small Sanctuary nearly often enough but enjoy it when I'm there. When I walk through the door, the sense of comfort is physical and unconsciously my breathing becomes slower and deeper.

Thistle Cove Cottage is available for rent; if you're interested, e-mail me or click here and scroll down for the calendar. Blog followers receive a discount because if you've been reading my blog, you deserve to share my Gift From The Sea. If you go, don't forget to sign the Guest Book.

NOTE: I would so love to have this job for a year, here.

Blessings ~ Anne Morrow Lindburgh ~ Gift From The Sea ~ Scoraig, Scotland ~ Thistle Cove Cottage ~ 

Sabbath Keeping

"Let the wise hear and increase in learning,

and the one who understands, obtain guidance."

~ Proverbs 1:5 ~ 

"The more that you read,

the more things you will know.

The more that you learn,

the more places you'll go."

~ Dr. Seuss ~

"Education is not the filling of a pail,

but the lighting of a fire."

~ W. B. Yeats ~

"In learning you will teach,

and in teaching you will learn."

~ Phil Collins ~

"Study the past if you would define the future."

~ Confucius ~

"Education is the kindling of a flame,

not the filling of a vessel."

~ Socrates ~

"Any fool can know.

The point is to understand."

~ Albert Einstein ~ 

"There is nothing more notable in Socrates than that he found time, when he was an old man, to learn music and dancing and thought it time well spent."
~ Michel de Montaigne ~

"I am not a teacher, but an awakener."

~ Robert Frost ~

"Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon." ~ E. M. Forster ~

"It is not that I'm so smart.

But I stay with the questions much longer."

~ Albert Einstein ~

"Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect." ~ Samuel Johnson ~

"All the world is my school,

and all humanity is my teacher."

~ George Whitman ~ 

"There are few things more pathetic than those who have lost their curiosity and sense of adventure, and who no longer care to learn." ~ Gordon B. Hinckley ~

"Ancora imparo"

(Yet I am learning)

~ Michelangelo, age 87 ~

"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God,

who gives generously to all without finding fault,

and it will be given to you."

~ James 1:5 ~ 

Please let me know if you would like a name placed on this weeks prayer list.

Prayer Keeping ~ Jim ~ Kathy ~ John ~ Debby ~ Dewena ~ Sandra ~ 

HEY YOU...READ THIS and BELIEVE IT...NOW!

"...it's a funny thing about gifts-

we usually don't consider ours

 as unique or as stunning 

as someone else's gifts

 because whatever ours is,

it comes so easily to us that

 we don't get the big deal about it."

~ Patsy Clairmont ~

Blessings ~ Patsy Clairmont ~ encouragement ~ laughter ~ gifts ~ YOU ~

Sabbath Keeping

"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks,

and look well to thy herds."

~ Proverbs 27:23 ~ 

"You would not have called to me 

unless I had been calling to you," said the Lion."

~ C. S. Lewis ~ 

"How else but through a broken heart 

may Lord Christ enter in." 

~ Oscar Wilde ~

"There is nothing more important 

than your eternal salvation."

~ Kirk Cameron ~ 

"There were ninety and nine that safely lay
  In the shelter of the flock,
But one was out on the hills away,
  Far off in the cold and dark;
Away on the mountains wild and bare,
  Away from the tender Shepherd's care.

"Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for thee?"
But the Shepherd made answer: "This of Mine
Has wandered away from me;
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep."

But none of the ransomed ever knew
  How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night which the Lord passed through
  Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the bleak desert He heard its cry--
  All bleeding and helpless, and ready to die.

"Lord, whence are those blood-drops all the way
  That mark out the mountain's track?"
"They were shed for one who had gone astray
  Ere the Shepherd could bring him back."
"Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?
  They're pierced tonight by many a thorn."

And all through the mountains, thunder-riven,
  And up from the rock steep,
There arose a cry to the gate of heaven,
  "Rejoice! I have found My sheep!"
And the angels echoed around the throne,
  "Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!"
~ The Ninety and Nine ~

"We sinned for no reason but an 

incomprehensible lack of love, 

and He saved us for no reason but an 

incomprehensible excess of love." 

~ Peter Kreeft ~ 

"You have one business on earth--to save souls."
~ John Wesley ~

"Jesus can you show me

Just how far the east is from the west,

Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been

Rising up in me again.

In the arms of your mercy I find rest

Cause you know just how far the east is from the west--

From one scarred hand to the other."

~ Casting Crowns: East to West ~ 

"What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?"

~ Luke 15:4 ~

Prayer Keeping ~ Jim ~ Kathy ~ John ~ Donna ~ Noreen ~ Roberts Family ~ Mary ~ Sandra ~ 

August is a Memory; September Scurries By

~ at least 4 deer ~

Can you believe August is gone, school has started and Autumn is less than two weeks from today? whewwwww! Tempus Fugit, eh?

Last month I made jam, here, and today I made four more pints of peach vanilla and the slow cooker is full of Wolf River apples, known for making delicious apple butter, and what was purchased as a Granny Smith tree. The first couple of years the apples were bright, solid green and then changed to a mottled green. I'm not sure what they are other than really good tasting and add a depth of flavor to either apple butter, apple sauce or, for breakfast, fried apples atop buttered hot biscuits...with home churned butter of course.

~ Wolf River, top; Granny Smith, bottom ~

Wolf River and Summer Rambo are my favorite apples - crisp, large, and add lovely flavor to home pressed cider. It was growing as early as the late 1700's in his country and recorded in the 1500's in France. All three apples are heritage with Granny Smith being the newest, 1868. The most interesting fact regards Wolf River...it can sometimes reproduce itself, true to variety, by seed.

Labor Day was spent visiting family and watching Steve, my brother, and Dad prep the bees for winter.

The lid is lifted off, the smoker uses a bit of burlap to pour smoke into the hive which calms the bees.

Daddy, using the smoker.

Each hive is checked for honey and if it has none, old honey is put into the hive to help the bees over winter. Duck tape is wrapped around where the hive sections meet, helping keep out the cold. Steve also closes up one half of the entrance which helps keep out the cold and snow.

Daddy smokes the last hive. Usually they don't wear bee gear but since Steve is allergic and Dad is still having mobility problems from his leg operation, it was decided veils were needed.

This cabin has a good start on firewood.

Tommy, my new "boyfriend", washing his ATV.

When I was a teenager, I had a mad crush on my cousins, Richard Lee and Eddie Dale. They were wild as March hares and lived more life than most do in ten. Eddie Dale is gone now but he and Richard Lee were car guys; knows 'em up down outside inside out. Next time we all meet up, I'm taking a tape recorder to save the stories of both his growing up, our family and cars...our family history.

He married his high school sweetheart, Loretta Lee...yes, they both have the same middle names!

Our family has been in West Virginia for more than a couple of hundred years and have a few famous members. One is Rimfire Hamrick; he and his younger brother posed for the statue on the Capital grounds in Charleston and Daddy is a direct descendant.

We come from a Irishman named Patrick who came here in 1654 through the Fredericksburg port, had a bunch of sons who had a bunch of sons who...you get the drift. One of those sons served with George Washington at Valley Head and other places.

Tomorrow, it's finish the apple butter, start more apple butter, finish the peach vanilla jam...usual chores - move hay, sell hay, pay bills...I need a wife -grin-. I'm beginning to understand why, decades ago, women would let other women board with them. Not only did it provide company, it also provided a second pair of hands for the work.

Unfortunately, nowadays, people think work is a four letter word.

Blessings ~ apple butter ~ peach vanilla jam ~ the Hamrick family ~ Richard Lee and Loretta Lee ~ Steve, my brother ~ Daddy ~ honey ~